Tricks and Treats
by luvscharlie
Summary: Halloween: the one night of the year we get to be exactly what we are not. Sometimes a trick can be the most delightful kind of treat. Fred/Hermione


_Tricks and Treats_ by Luvscharlie

The doorbell at her parents' house rang, and Hermione collected the candy bowl. She had agreed to house-sit while her parents were away at a dental conference and, thus far, Halloween had been relatively uneventful. There had been goblins at the door in all shapes and sizes, some scary, some themselves scared, and some that turned her heart to seven kinds of squishy with their cuteness.

There was a rumble of thunder off in the distance and she opened the door expecting the customary litany of 'Trick-or-Treat' from painted faces. Instead, Fred Weasley grabbed the piece of candy she had been holding in anticipation of dropping it into a child's treat bag and grinned. "Chocolate!" he exclaimed. "Close the door and let me ring the bell again."

"Get in here," she said, returning his smile and pulling him in by the front of his shirt.

"You remember what you promised?" she asked.

He held up his right hand. "No pranks on my girlfriend tonight." His words were monotone and forced.

Hermione stroked a finger down his cheek. "Aw, that seemed painful."

"You have no idea."

He popped the piece of chocolate in his mouth. "I thought your parents were dentists."

"They are," she said, winking at him. "That's job security." She inclined her head toward the candy dish as a flash of lightning lit up the sky. "I'm going to make some popcorn before the movie starts," she said, clicking the remote to put the telly on the correct channel.

"What are we watching?" Fred asked, settling himself on the sofa just as the rain began to pour down. "Well, that should put an end to trick-or-treating tonight, so we won't be interrupted." The grin he shot her was lecherous.

"Scream," she said.

"Oh, I can make you scream, baby."

"It's the name of the movie, you cad," she said, pushing aside his wandering hands and going to the kitchen for the popcorn.

She came back just as the movie was starting and passed him the bowl. "I'm going to go to the loo, and then I'll be back."

"Hurry, or you'll miss it."

When she returned from the loo, Fred was having a spirited conversation with the blonde girl onscreen. "Just stop answering it, you idiotic bird. Let it ring." _The girl ran across the room and flung open the door._ "Don't go outside. No, not out there. Oh, how stupid can you be? Oh, you are so dead. Go back in the house. No, the other way."

Hermione climbed onto the sofa beside him. She crawled as close to him as possible, but he paid her little mind.

Onscreen, the phone in the girl's hand rang again causing her to scream. "Watch, Hermione. Just you watch. She going to answer it again." She did, and Fred slapped his hand to his forehead. "Moron." When the girl's body was swinging from the tree outside her home, Fred gestured wildly at the television. "You should have listened. I tried to tell you."

As the movie progressed, Fred got more and more involved. When an advertisement signaled a break in the programming he jumped up for a quick trip to the loo. When he returned, he looked as though he had seen a ghost. His face was as pale as death and he was carrying a small, white stick in his hand.

He held up the stick with the two small blue lines in its center. He didn't say anything, and Hermione thought at first the power of speech had left him. He walked over to the sofa, sat down beside her and put his head in his hands. "A baby?" he asked incredulously. "I'm—I—"

She looked at the floor, waiting for him to continue.

"Hermione, I don't know—This is—"

He stammered unable to complete a full sentence, so she did it for him.

"This is the best damn Halloween prank ever," she shouted.

Fred's mouth fell open. His face registered shock at first, and then unconcealed admiration. "You just wait until next year," he said, tugging Hermione onto his lap.

"Impressed?" she asked smugly.

"I didn't think you had it in you," he conceded.

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me yet, Fred Weasley."

"I look forward to discovering them though. Oh, and Hermione?"

"Hm?"

"Payback's gonna be a bitch."

Fin.


End file.
